Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett has a 43 - 5 percent lead over State Representative
Sam Rohrer for the Republican nomination for governor and holds double-digit leads over the
top Democratic candidates, all of whom who are virtual unknowns even to their own party
members, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

"Don't know" leads the field for the Democratic nomination with 59 percent, followed
by Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato with 16 percent, State Auditor General Jack
Wagner with 11 percent, 2004 U.S. Senate nominee Joel Hoeffel at 10 percent and State. Sen.
Tony Williams at 2 percent, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll
finds.

Gov. Ed Rendell remains unpopular with voters as he completes his final year in office, as
voters disapprove 49 - 43 percent of the job he is doing, unchanged from December 17.

Voters say 49 - 6 percent Gov. Rendell's plan to increase state spending next year by 4.1
percent was too much rather than too little. Another 35 percent say it's about right.

By a 53 - 40 percent margin, voters oppose the Governor's plan to raise more money by
cutting the state sales tax but expanding items covered by it.

"The Democratic candidates for Governor are almost invisible men as far as the voters are
concerned. One of them will win the nomination, but at this point they are so closely bunched
together and such mystery men to the vast majority of primary voters that any result is possible,
given that the primary is little more than 10 weeks away," said Peter Brown, assistant director of
the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "In a four-candidate race, the possibilities are
endless."

Onorato and Wagner are the best known of the four Democrats and 64 or 65 percent of
Democrats don't know enough about them to have an opinion. Hoeffel is unfamiliar to 73
percent and Williams to 93 percent.

Corbett isn't a household name by any stretch, but at least half of voters statewide have
an opinion about him, and by 43 - 7 percent it is favorable, which explains his lead in the polls.
For Rohrer, 91 percent don't know enough about him.

Gov. Ed Rendell, who is barred from seeking a third term by law, is well known to
Pennsylvania voters and not all that favorably, as his 49 - 43 percent disapproval continues an
eight-month negative streak.

Rendell's rating looks pretty good compared to the State Legislature, which gets a
59 - 29 percent disapproval rating from the voters, better than 64 - 25 percent December 17.

"Rendell's budget plan strikes Pennsylvania voters as too generous in tough times.
Almost half, 49 percent, say his spending plans are too much, while only 6 percent think the state
should be spending more money. A third, 35 percent, think it's about right."

Another Rendell tax plan to tax energy companies drilling in the state's Marcellus Shale
on the value of the natural gas they produced gets plurality support, 49 - 41 percent.

"Such narrow support for a tax on energy companies - a traditional political whipping boy -
is an indication of the general anti-tax mood of the electorate," said Brown.

From February 22 - 28, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,452 Pennsylvania voters, with
a margin of error of +/- 2.6 percentage points. The survey includes 649 Democrats, with a margin
of error of +/- 3.9 percentage points, and 605 Republicans, with a margin of error of +/- 4
percentage points.

The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public
opinion surveys in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Ohio and the
nation as a public service and for research.
For more data or RSS feed- http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml, call (203) 582-5201, or
follow us on Twitter.

1. (If registered Democrat) If the 2010 Democratic primary for Governor were
being held today and the candidates were Dan Onorato, Jack Wagner, Tony Williams
and Joe Hoeffel, for whom would you vote?

TREND: (If registered Democrat) If the 2010 Democratic primary for Governor were
being held today and the candidates were Dan Onorato, Jack Wagner, Tony
Williams, and Joe Hoeffel, for whom would you vote?

TREND: In general, how satisfied are you with the way things are going in
Pennsylvania today? Are you very satisfied, somewhat satisfied, somewhat
dissatisfied, or very dissatisfied? (*Low also 39% Sep 2009)

34. (If registered Democrat) Regardless of how you intend to vote, who do you
trust more to do in office what they say they will do during the campaign - Dan
Onorato, Jack Wagner, Tony Williams or Joe Hoeffel?

37. Governor Rendell has proposed cutting the state sales tax from six percent
to four percent but extending it to cover many items that are not currently
taxed. In all, the taxes are aimed at raising about an additional five hundred
million dollars in revenue. Do you support or oppose this change in the state
sales tax?

38. Governor Rendell has proposed that energy companies drilling for natural gas
in Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale pay a new tax based on the value of the energy
they produce. Do you support or oppose this new tax?